Our top tips for saving money on heating this winter!

We hate to face up to it, but the fact is, winter is here! The clocks have gone back, Halloween has been and gone, and the temperatures are starting to drop lower and lower.

As you know, here at Cross Electrical we offer Thermal Insulation, Electrical Trace Heating, Frost Protection and Temperature Maintenance services to businesses and individuals up and down the country. We also supply underfloor heating services – which is one fantastic way to chop your energy bills in half for the winter!

The GREEN ELECTRIC MAT From Hemstedt with unilateral connection and i-sleeve (see more here) is the floor heating mat that provides economically efficient heating. Underfloor heating is also a luxury in the winter months, creating an ambient temperature and a pleasant warm floor underfoot. A luxury that saves you money and helps the environment – for us it’s a no brainer!

But what else can you do to save on your bills this winter...?

Put on a jumper!

Okay, this may sound silly, but it’s true! Most families have the heating on at 20 degrees centigrade all day, and wander about the house comfortably in a T-shirt. By turning down your thermostat by just one degree, to 19 degrees, you can shave £60 a year from your bill! If you feel cold just wear a few more layers, but you will barely notice the difference if your house is well insulated!

Be clever!

You can make sure that the central heating and hot water is off when you’re out for the day - whether that’s at work, school or visiting friends and family! By using your timer carefully and cleverly, so it comes on only when absolutely necessary, you can save a lot of money!

Turn off the radiators in rooms you don’t use, like a guest bedroom for example, and keep windows and doors closed if the heating is turned on.

Go old school

As well as wrapping up, why not buy a hot water bottle! These days you can pick one up for less than £4 and they can really help to keep you warm, especially in bed at night! As well as this, stock up on fleecy blankets and throws to keep you warm! You can buy lovely soft throws on the high street or in supermarkets for a fiver – which will save you a lot of money if it means turning your thermostat a bit more!

Be careful with your lights

Lighting accounts for 19% of the average household’s electricity bill. One no brainer is switching to energy-saving bulbs – which can knock over £55 a year off your bills!

Cut out your bad habits when it comes to having your lights on! Be vigilant in turning off lights when you’re going out, or if you’re not in a room.  Unplug appliances that have a light on when inactive. That includes the TV, DVD player and even your mobile phone charger.

Keep your heat in!

Don’t let heat you’re paying for slip out! Make sure that you draw the curtains or blinds at night and use draught-blockers for doors to maintain as much keep as possible!

These are but a few on the many tips that float around when it comes to keeping your and your home warm without facing huge winter energy bills! Do you have any other tips or tricks up your sleeves? We’d love to hear them so drop us a comment below or contact us on FB or Twitter!

Hot water temperature maintenance

Static water in any hot water system over time will cool and during the winter months the prospect of it freezing is even more likely.

This can cause an inconvenience in any industry, as in order to get running water or an adequate temperature of water, cold water has to be run out of the system before hot water will reach its output or tap.

As a result water bills and energy bills can increase with higher levels of water wastage and more energy being consumed in order to heat the water. Time is also exhausted by the user spending time unproductively controlling water temperature.

A simple, efficient and cost effective way of combating this problem is to use trace heating solutions to ensure that water is kept a consistently regulated temperature and hot inside hot water pipe work and at a temperature tailored to suit your requirements.

This also ensures that a circulating system isn’t needed in order to provide hot water.

At Cross Electrical we can supply both trace heating and thermal insulation for hot water pipe work for adequate temperature maintenance solutions not only over the winter months but throughout the entire year so that a thermal balance is created where the heat output from trace heating correctly matches heat lost from the pipe.

If you are looking for more industry specific trace heating solutions for the chemical industry, oil refineries, power plants or food factories then we can also design, manufacture and supply to suit such requirements using your regulatory temperature as a limit and carefully matching one of our solutions.

We are also finding a greater increase in the use of trace heating in laboratories for researchers working in the materials field and need trace heating for use isotropically in combination with other objects with thermodynamic properties.

You will find some ready assembled trace heating for water pipe kits with preset and predetermined temperature and limit controls throughout our website.

Please take the time to browse our brochure and should you not be able to find what you are looking for or a specific answer to your question then please don’t hesitate to contact the team at Cross Electrical.

Temperature maintenance and trace heating in your holiday home

If you’re lucky enough to own a holiday home or string of holiday homes it is probable that with vacation season being over your properties are more than likely to see a reduction in the number of holiday makers, guests and visitors.

As the nights get darker and the weather and temperatures cool your holiday homes will require more regular maintenance with an absence of body heat from passing people, traffic and day-to-day activities.

While you are not present at your holiday home, you should put in place such a maintenance program to keep your property in good working  order not only to keep running costs down but to be sure that it is at its most efficient and attractive when holiday season begins again.

Taking consideration to risks will keep your property safe, secure and functioning when you are unlikely to be visiting or renting out.

Prepare for winter

As many of us have experienced over the winter months, when temperatures plunge there is a high likelihood of pipes freezing or bursting.

Such damage can not only be harmful to your home but also to your bank balance and if it happens at a time when your holiday home is unoccupied, it can mean the burst pipe can go unnoticed for weeks which can cause even further damage – damaged ceilings, water-soaked furniture and ruined electrical appliances can be the nasty consequences of such an eventuality.

Without taking the right precautions freezing temperatures are likely to damage the plumbing and pipe systems for your vacation property.

There are many ways that you can prevent burst water and heating pipes and leaks:

Switching on NOT off

One of the main causes of frozen pipes is turning off the central heating completely when your holiday home is empty. While this can seem a cost efficient solution in terms of saving energy and money while your holiday home isn’t occupied it can expose your home to the outside temperatures in addition to the exposure of irreparable damage being caused to burst pipes.

As one of the main causes of frozen pipes, switching off your central heating completely and preventing the continuous flow of water is not the solution. It is recommended to leave your heating on a low temperature to minimise such dangers particularly during the coldest months (aim between 7 and 15 degrees) and consider a timer.

Lagging

Hot water or heating pipe work contained in unheated areas such as lofts, cellars and basements or those within the walls of your holiday home will be more prone to freezing.  As pipes are often situated above the insulation you should ensure that they are lagged well with insulating foam coverings. The thinner the pipes, the thicker the insulation sleeves should be. Water tanks also need insulation too. If your pipes are located in a loft space, keep the loft door ajar to allow heat to circulate. 

Drip Drop

You will have noticed a reoccurring theme in the above two methods – flow. Keeping the fluid within your pipe work continuously flowing will prevent water from freezing and therefore bursting as it provides pressure relief.

Simply turning off a tap for the prolonged period that your holiday home is empty will not be enough to prevent freezing as with a lot of water already in your heating and hot water systems putting a stop to the flow will build up pressure. Allowing your taps to drip slightly will keep water flowing albeit extremely slowly.

Drain

Suddenly stopping a continuous flow for a long period is likely to cause problems. Ask yourself, where is the water already in the system going to go? If it is cold, it will freeze; pressure will build up and as a consequence – burst.

Consider getting a qualified plumber to drain down the water and central heating system which will remove any risks to freezing completely.  

Temperature maintenance/Trace heating

While lagging outside or under insulated pipes can seem like enough, it isn’t always which is when having a temperature maintenance or trace heating system fitted can lower the risks the freezing temperatures can pose.

Having a low voltage electrical cable with frost thermostats wrapped around your pipes beneath the lagging is an excellent prevention method.

Thermostatically controlled, the heating cables only ever energise when temperatures drop below a stipulated figure, acting to prevent the disastrous consequences of winter.

Never overheating, with extremely low running costs purchasing trace heating from Cross Electrical can bring investment benefits for many years to come and do not require drainage of your water systems or interrupt your current electrical supplies.  Find out more about our trace heating solutions here.

Insurance

Having the right type of holiday home insurance to cover every eventuality is key to protecting your holiday home.  By predicting and implementing such cover you will ensure that your property is not rendered worthless following any misfortunes.

To find out more about our hot water pipe work, temperature maintenance products and trace heating solutions contact Cross Electrical today.